"American Idol" Finalist Elise Talks About Her Elimination

On the latest edition of Fuse’s new series Unofficial Idol Forum, host and American Idol veteran Constantine Maroulis talks to the recently-eliminated season 11 contestant Elise Testone, who was sent home last week after performing a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Bold As Love."

In addition to asking Elise questions from fans on Twitter, Constantine chatted with his fellow sixth-place finisher about how difficult it is to sing in the Idol arena.

“It’s different, it’s not natural,” Elise says. “I work best when I’m natural. That’s what hurt me. I’m not sure the judges could always pinpoint what I was missing, but what was missing was that I was thinking and holding back.

“Normally when I sing in clubs, I visualize the story,” Elise continued. “I make every word, every syllable count, and I was losing sight of that a little bit. But when I re-watch it, I still think it was good.”

Testone also touched on whether the judges’ comments influence Idol viewers’ votes. “People ultimately vote for their favorite,” Elise says, “But the judges and even [things like] the pictures on the screen and the way the volume is set, all these things sway the votes. Sometimes people don’t even realize they’re being swayed.”

The South Carolinian also offers her take on the remaining contestants. Although she declines to guess the winner, she says “Phillip Phillips has a lot of great ideas” and “Skylar [Laine] writes a lot of great songs, too.”

Watch the video above for Constantine’s full interview with Elise on Fuse's Unofficial Idol Forum. What do you think about Elise? Were you surprised that she was sent home so soon? Tell us below.

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